This invention relates to tape winding machines in general and more particularly to a novel type of apparatus for trimming the splices created during a tape winding operation.
Machines used to transfer magnetic recording tape used in video or audio applications from the large supply reels prepared during manufacture and winding the same on hubs commonly employed in tape cassettes and cartridges, are well known in the art. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,061,286, 3,753,834, 3,637,153 and 3,997,123. The typical procedure is to start with first and second hubs connected by a leader tape, sever the leader tape and splice virgin or prerecorded magnetic tape to the leader tape attached to the first hub, wind a given amount of magnetic tape onto that hub, splice the trailing end of the magnetic tape to the leader on the second hub and then mount the two hubs in a cassette housing. Alternatively, the winding procedure may be conducted while the hubs are already mounted in the cassette.
Cassettes produced in this manner have proven quite satisfactory for most audio applications. Some difficulty may be encountered in video applications, however. This is due to the fact that when the virgin tape is spliced to the leader tape, absolutely perfect alignment between the two tapes may not always be achieved, with the result that some tape overhang at the side edges may occur at the splicing junction. This tape overhang, which prevents the spliced tape from having two uniform side edges, can create problems during video recording and playback. This problem may be sufficiently serious in the sophisticated equipment necessary for video reproduction and playback as to require costly and time-consuming manual trimming to be performed on the video tape splices to insure that substantially all tape overhang is eliminated.
Subsequently, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide an apparatus which will substantially eliminate any tape overhang created by a tape winding machine of the type described above.
Another object is to provide an apparatus which is adaptable for use with a tape winding machine of the type described above.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a means for automatically trimming tape overhang at splicing junctions without manual assistance and without detracting from the normal operation of a tape winding machine.